Damn report
by svensktjej
Summary: Little late-night work for Creegan & Branca. A bit of CB :


The day was going pretty well as far as David Creegan was concerned

The day was going pretty well as far as David Creegan was concerned. He finally had a day off and, unlike the most of those days, he got to spend this one with his two daughters instead of being bored like hell. Besides, this time he got to be a full-time dad for 24 hours because his ex-wife was out of town visiting an old friend and she was coming back the next day. He was even pretty surprised when she actually asked him to stay with the girls in the first place. It was good to know that Holly had trusted him enough to take care of them, even it was only for a day. Maybe there was a hope she didn't think he was a total looser anymore, David thought.

After picking them up from school he took them riding, and then tried to explain it to Lilly that she can't really have a horse for a pet, but as she kept pushing it he promised to get them a dog if their mom said it was ok. He was close to just drive to RSPCA and let them pick any dog they liked right then, but some reasonable part of him told him it probably wouldn't be such a good idea.

He was heating up a dinner for the girls which Holly had prepared earlier when his cell phone rang. He grunted, knowing it had to be someone from work. It's not like he had lots of friends who'd call on his day off just to say "Hi". He answered the phone with an annoyed "What". The voice on the other side didn't seem impressed or surprised – it was Enright. He was already used to Creegan's behavior.

"Creegan, I know it's your day off, but we got a problem." This didn't seem to have much effect on Creegan as he just said "Yeah" and sounded everything but interested.

"Remember the Lundgren case?" Enright continued. "It seems that the report is missing, and we have that inspection scheduled for tomorrow so unfortunately you and Branca have to redo it."

"Redo it? By tomorrow?"

"That's what I said."

"And I suppose that's the only report missing in the entire OSC?"

"Pretty much. I'm sorry, someone in the Archives must have messed up."

"Ok. How 'bout I beat the hell out off that one and make them write a new report?" Creegan was really getting pissed off by now.

"Creegan…"

"Ok, ok, but I want a raise. And I'm still going to kick that someone's ass."

"Just do it, Creegan."

Creegan looked at his watch. It was 7 pm. How the hell did Enright expect them to do this?! He shook his head, taking out the plates and getting food out of the microwave. He called the girls, and smiled as he listened to Samantha trying to convince Lilly that Stich is not a real dog and that she can't get one just like him. He heard his phone ringing again. He looked at the caller ID before answering. It was Susan.

"Creegan's microwave heated food, how can I help you?"

"Hey, it's me. Where are you?"

"At Holly's, fixing dinner for the girls." He sounded very proud of himself.

"Wow! Ah, you're not gonna believe this – someone managed to lose our Lundgren file, and Enright wants us to do it all over again by tomorrow. So, how 'bout you come over on your way home, so we can get it done?"

"As much as I love when you invite me to come over in the middle of the night Susan, I can't. Holly's out of town, so I'm staying with the girls."

"Oh, I didn't know." She paused for a second. "You know what, I'll just do it myself." He wasn't spending enough time with his daughters in the first place, so she didn't want to ruin this for him. "I'll just tell Enright you went MIA and I couldn't find you."

"Too late, he already called. Besides, I can't let you do all the hard work."

"No seriously, I'll do it."

"You can't. You need my signature on it, remember?"

"You can sign it tomorrow."

"Nah, if I let you do it by yourself you'll probably make me pay for it later."

"Of course, you don't think I would let you off the hook that easy?" she laughed.

"Look, why don't you come over? Girls are going to bed around 9, so we have all night to do the damn report."

"Ah, ok. So, I'll see you in about 2 hours?"

"I'll be here."

Just before 9 o'clock, as Sam and Lilly were finishing watching some cartoon, Greegan went and opened the front door.

"Hey" She was wearing jeans and pink t-shirt, looking great. He didn't have that much chance to see her often out of her work clothes. He smiled.

"Just in time to help me put them to bed"

"Aha, you'll do it yourself, _dad_" she smiled back and went in.

Girls yelled "Hi" to her at the same time. Lilly run towards her "Guess what, guess what! Daddy's going to get us a dog" She smiled and seemed as she was on the 7th heaven.

"Wow, that's great" Susan said, looking up to her partner. "You know, I had a dog when I was a girl."

"Really? Which one?" Samantha seemed to be more interested all of the sudden.

"An Irish setter. Big dog, with long red hair"

"Oh, I know that one" Samantha remembered the picture she saw in a book.

"He's name was Apollo. He was my best friend" Susan said.

"Well if you two don't go to bed right now, I won't even try to persuade your mom to let us get a dog" Creegan tried to make a serious face.

Samantha got to her feet, said "Good night" and headed upstairs. Lilly, on the other hand, kept looking at Susan.

"Are you my dad's girlfriend?" she suddenly blurred out.

"Ah, no. I just work with your dad" Susan managed to say, trying not to let it show that Lilly totally took her off guard. She looked at Creegan, but he wasn't helping. He didn't say anything. He just tilted his head and had semi-amused, semi-confused look on his face, like he was thinking about something.

"But you like him, right?" Lilly was persistent.

"Yeah, sometimes" Susan smiled.

"That's good, because he really likes you"

Susan didn't get a chance to say anything as David interrupted, now almost panicking, like he was suddenly back in the reality.

"You need to go to bed, missy, _now_" He took her in his arms and carried her upstairs.

Susan stood there for a moment. "How can a 6-year old put you in a tight spot like that?!" She shook her head and laughed. "Jesus".

After 10 minutes Creegan came down the stairs. "Still here?"

"Yeah, let's get started. I brought some of my notes. Those I could find, anyway."

Creegan sat down on the couch next to her, frowning "Why couldn't they loose one of Bernal's reports?" he complained, sounding much like an offended kid.

"I guess you and I are just bad luck."

They started writing their report all over again, trying to remember the details. After a while Creegan was too bored by it, so he looked up at his partner. She was quiet, writing down something, keeping the file on her knees. He kept starring at her, which at the end made her notice and look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. Can't a guy just look at his partner?"

"You were starring. So, what?"

"So, what ever happened to Apollo?"

She was almost used to his jumping back and fort different subjects when she least expected it. "Ah, he got very sick when he was 12 and he died. I was heartbroken for years…" A small smile appeared on her face, and Creegan could see the sadness in her eyes, even now, years after. He made a sympathetic face.

"What about you? Did you have a dog when you were a kid?" she asked turning to him.

"Yes, but nothing fancy like your Apollo. It was a big yellow mix. He used to be the best Frisbee-catcher in the whole neighborhood." He smiled. Then he moved a little bit closer and almost whispered "I cried when he died, but I wouldn't let anyone see me. I used to cry in my bed at night weeks after." He frowned "You're the only person in the world I ever told this."

She smiled, crossed her heart and said "I won't tell anyone, scouts honor."

"You better." He smiled back.

A couple of hours have passed while they were trying to put everything in order. Creegan was tapping with a pencil against some papers he was reading. He seemed to be lost in it as he didn't hear her asking him to give her the evidence list. After 3rd "David" she sighed, and decided to get it herself. She leaned forward over him, reaching for the file on the table with one, and leaning against his thigh with the other hand. As soon as she touched him, he was jerked out of his thoughts. The touch of her hand made chills go down his spine and his leg, and he remembered immediately how once before he felt exactly the same. On that bumpy flight to Boston, she grabbed his thigh. He remembered how he couldn't get rid of that feeling for the entire day. Not that he wanted to. He looked at her. She was beautiful. Her hair kept falling down to her face and she was trying to tuck it behind her ears. He got used to having her around, so much that he couldn't imagine himself not seeing her every day. She was about the only friend he had. She was more than just his partner, in more ways than one. He felt something about her he didn't feel about anyone else. He couldn't really put his finger on it, but it was definitely something. He pulled himself out of his thoughts and focused once again on the report.

"This is boring." Creegan finally said it out loud. "I feel like watching a rerun of a bad TV show."

"And I really love doing same reports all over again in the middle of the night on my day off. Let's just do this. Ok?" She didn't take her eyes of the file.

"Yeah, yeah…" His mind was somewhere else, though. "You slapped me."

She looked at him with a confused look on her face. "What?"

"You slapped me" he repeated. "Remember?"

"Well, you deserved it. At the time." she realized what he was getting at.

"Maybe. But it's not fair, 'cause I never slapped you."

She shook her head. What has gotten into him? "If I say I'm sorry would you drop this?"

"No. I'm just saying how it would be totally messed up if I slapped you." He grinned.

Him and his weird sense of humor, she thought to herself. "David, if that's one of your kinky fantasies…" she said, teasing him.

He smiled, and then moved a little closer "Susan, in my fantasies you and I do everything but slap each other." He winked at her, his face not quite serious, but there was a little smile on his lips, barely noticeable.

She just looked at him, not really knowing what to say to that. She rolled her eyes, and Creegan didn't miss how she blushed slightly. She should have known teasing him was going to back fire, he was just better at this. She did her best to look busy, not paying attention to him anymore. But she couldn't help but think about what he said. Was he seriously having fantasies about her, about the two of them? To her surprise it didn't feel _so_ wrong. On the other hand, he wasn't exactly the most normal person in the world, so his head must be full of all kinds of fantasies and ideas, so it's probably not that big of a deal, she thought to herself.

"But you know what's good about fantasies?" he continued after few minutes, just as she thought they had dropped the subject. "You can actually make them real."

"Creegan, you have a better chance of me letting you slap me across the face then making your fantasy real." Susan replied.

"But there's still a chance" he grinned. "I'm a patient guy."

"Oh, shut up!" she finally laughed, throwing a folder at him. He laughed throwing his had back.

It was already 2:47 am when they finally finished. Creegan yawned without putting his hand over his mouth and Branca stretched her back. "Finally!" she said giving five to David as he put his hand up.

"I'm just gonna check up on them, be right back to sign the damn thing." He said getting up on his feet. He tucked in his daughters, carefully closing the door on his way out. He came down whistling some tune, but he stopped when he saw Branca. She was resting her head on her right arm, sleeping. He took the file out of her lap, sat next to her putting a blanket over her. She stirred, turning around, putting her head on his shoulder. He smiled and tilted his head so he could see her face. He pushed back of her face a few strands of her hair, and realized that this wasn't the first time she had slept on his shoulder. On their flight back from Boston she had a terrible headache and she was fast asleep on his shoulder as soon as they took off. He remembered how he tried not to move so he doesn't wake her up. He remembered how he wanted to wrap his arms around her and keep her safe, and how he made himself not to because Enright and Bernal were sitting 5 feet away. He remembered how he wanted to punch Bernal because of some immature remark he made while David was trying to fasten her seatbelt without waking her up. He looked at her again. She really was beautiful. He had noticed that the first time he met her. It felt good being so close to her, feeling her warmth and her breath on his neck, her hand on his chest, and smelling her perfume. He thought how lucky he was. He could have been given an other partner when he returned to work. He could have been partnered up with Rivers. Or even worse Bernal. The idea of Bernal sleeping on his shoulder suddenly run through his mind and made him wanna throw up and he quickly shook it away. But he got her. She understood him, maybe not completely but she tried. And she gave him the benefit of the doubt. She was there for him. She kept him in check, not letting him drift away. She trusted him, which not many people did after he got shot. He leaned back and closed his eyes, falling asleep in a couple of minutes.

Sun has just appeared on the horizon when Branca opened her eyes. At first she couldn't really say where she was. It took her a few seconds to remember. And the she realized David was lying behind her on the couch, with his right arm wrapped around her waist. "David, get up" she called him. "David" she called once again. But he just mumbled something still half asleep, wrapping his arm around her waist even tighter and burying his face in her neck. She almost held her breath for a second and her heart started beating maybe just a little bit faster. She indulged him for a minute, just lying there. Who was she kidding? she thought. She needed it, she needed someone to hold her. She needed him to… She felt his body pressed against hers, his arm around her waist and his hot breath on her neck and shoulder. It felt good being next to him. Finally she snapped out of her daydream or whatever the hell it was and she called his name louder, waking him up this time. She sat up and he sat next to her, tilting his head and looking at her. "Just for the record, you threw yourself at me. I was being a perfect gentleman, and you couldn't get your hands off me." he said trying to put on a serious, innocent face.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I'm sorry for being all over you then."

"Don't be, I kind of liked it." he said as a wide smile appeared on his face.

"Shut up!" Susan smiled back at his gathering files from the table. "I'll pick you up at 9:30. Ok?" she said on her way out.

"Ok, I'll be there." Creegan said, shaking his head in attempt to fully wake himself up. He watched her leave and couldn't help but smile.


End file.
